I spend quite a bit of time each week answering comments on my blogs, both old and new. I love answering comments and no question is ever a “dumb” question in my book. The only dumb questions are the ones that never get asked!

That being said, there are always a few comments each week that really grab my attention for whatever reason. To give you some idea, I was having lunch with my husband yesterday and was telling him about this absolutely brilliant comment by a reader that I was still marveling about. He immediately suggested that I do a weekly blog spotlighting standout comments.

What a great idea!

So here I am, kicking off a new Friday series that will spotlight a few brilliant comments from the prior week.

Be advised that, on occasion, I may spotlight a truly boneheaded comment as well. Boneheaded comments typically come from conventionally minded people with a bad attitude who make some lame, in the box, propaganda statement without even reading the post and considering “the other side of the story” so to speak.

I have no problem with comments that aren’t in agreement with what I write. We all have our own perspectives after all. It’s those comments which don’t even consider the other side and the commenter makes this known in a manner that is rather rude that causes me to take issue.

Brilliant or boneheaded? Let me know what you think! Here are the spotlighted comments from this past week:

Brilliant Comments

“Salmon roe was one of my babies 1st finger foods. They love to grab the tiny eggs. Way better than cereal “O”‘s…Yuck!”

Christin, my jaw was on the ground after reading your comment. What an excellent idea to give babies little fish roe to munch on as a finger food! I never did that when my kids were little even though I knew all about how wonderful and nutritious fish eggs are and what a much better choice they would be than those nasty, nutritionless Cheerios and other boxed cereals! I wish I had done this too!

“I’ve had a garden here in Lakeland, FL for a couple of years now and here’s a few things I have learned. In this area, you want your spring seedlings to be in by late February. Also, if it says FULL SUN — it’s doesn’t mean Florida full sun. Most plants need a break from the heat here. If your garden is near concrete, it’s even hotter. The concrete will reflect the light and heat making it harder to grow things. Over the summer, just plant cover crops. It’s basically our “off-season.” You can do well with black-eyed peas and Sunflowers at that time. Then get ready for the bigger growing season by planting again in September.”

Thanks Michelle for the Florida gardening tips. I will be planting again in September per your advice!

“Pretty soon I will give up grocery shopping altogether. Nothing is safe unless you grow it or kill it yourself. We need a serious food revolution that will take down Monsanto and eliminate the chemical pesticides and fertilizers from our food supply and we need it yesterday. Those of us who can garden and buy local meats at reasonable prices are somewhat in the minority. Everyone else is either too broke to buy the organics at the store or are going broke doing so! It should be a RIGHT to buy chemical free food. It should not be a “lifestyle choice.” That type of thinking just leaves out a lot of people who just plain can’t afford it. And that is a human rights issue.”

Elizabeth, I honestly never thought about all this food mess we’re in as a planet as a human rights issue but that is a slam dunk observation! People really do need to have a food revolution in their own homes as buying organic produce and avoiding fast food is not going to get them healthy. We are so far down the rabbit hole on this one that only drastic changes to how we grow, source, shop, and prepare our food is going to make any difference in reversing the epidemic of chronic disease in ourselves and our children.

Boneheaded Comment

Unfortunately, there were a few boneheaded comments this week as well. They were from several dentists that converged on the How I Healed My Child’s Cavity post. One of them actually called me a flat out liar!

This comment from Kent G., DDS:

“My friends and colleagues Adam, Marc & Grisha are on point here. This type of anecdotal evidence is worthless if not backed up by clinical, reproducible results. There is a scientific method for a good reason: it works! If you want to convince anyone with a scientific background or an analytical mind, you need to approach the forum of discussion with a modicum of scientific evidence. Otherwise, you’re embarrassing yourself, as are the sheep of your flock.”

Dr. Kent, anecdotal evidence is far from worthless particularly with all the flawed and blatantly false “scientific” studies that are being exposed these days! It is the patients that assume cavities always need to be drilled and filled and that there is no other way than flossing and brushing to prevent them that are the real sheep! I personally don’t need a scientific study to tell me that I see a hole in a tooth one day and that the hole in the tooth is gone a few weeks later. If you cannot respect a well researched book such as Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston A. Price DDS and his observations about how nutrition can heal and prevent cavities, then no scientific study will convince you either.

Thanks to everyone who posted comments this past week! I love reading your ideas and insights and understanding what is on your minds and hearts. Keep ‘em coming! Another edition of The Weekly Comment Spotlight will be posted next Friday!

oops, that should have read that i think more people would be on board if there were more organizations to turn to other than the wapf. and i meant to add, if there are please direct me to them. thanks so much!

Price-Pottenger Foundation but this is organization is not very activist. Jordan Rubin and doing great things (although he just sold Garden of Life and is starting another organization called Beyond Organic). Mostly it is a lot of individuals making an impact, but the WAPF is surely one of the most prominent.

I enjoy your blog and have learned a lot. i am still in the process of changing my diet to reclaim my health but as a single parent with 40+yrs of bad eating it’s a difficult process. that said, it appears that most folks who eat a real food diet have energy and good health, both of which I want so i am slowly making changes. I think Dr. Kent G and other skeptics are not only more comfortable with what conventional medicine has taught them but would like more scientific evidence because real food bloggers only seem to ever quote the same three folks – sally fallon, dr price and dr mcbride! i think anecdotal evidence is great and i always opt to try curing myself of ill health through diet first but i wish there were more people would be on board if there were more organizations to turn to for support other than the wapf.

I think this Friday post is a great idea! However I do have an objection to the Boneheaded classification. I would rather see it called something like “Not Yet Enlightened” otherwise you are treating these people’s comments the same way they are treating your post.

Hi Julie, making a boneheaded comment doesn’t necessarily make a person a bonehead. Everyone makes boneheaded comments from time to time. It’s not personal labeling a comment as boneheaded. I understand where you are coming from, but I really think these comments are truly boneheaded and don’t want to water it down by calling them something more PC.

Black-eyed peas are summer ground cover with benefits, like nutritious yummy fresh peas. Also, in the summer grow okra and eggplant. Try the heirloom watermelons. Old Florida people had a crop in the ground year round.

Let’s assume that the dentist’s are correct, that there is no way to improve teeth health with nutrition. Where is the harm in trying? It’s not like you’re spending 100’s or 1000’s of dollars to heal your cavities. You’re eating real food, which can only improve your health. So why can’t some people just be up for trying it?

I was talking to a friend recently about GAPS and Dr. Natasha, and she wasn’t interested in anecdotal evidence, only what she could find in peer-reviewed medical journals. I, on the other hand, love “anecdotal evidence” because it’s stories about what’s working for real people in their very real lives. My nurse practitioner (and every other conventional doctor I talked to) said about my 2 sons’ chronic, recurring throat infections that there was no real connection to diet and their infections. But as soon as we started GAPS and got serious about probiotics and fermented CLO/BO, the infections away. Anecdotal? Who cares. That’s what happened, even if it’s not in a peer reviewed journal.

It’s just like government “experts” who say there’s no nutritional difference between raw and pasteurized milk. All the lactose intolerant people who have real stories about the vast differences they’ve experienced in their own lives are dismissed as “anecdotal.” I’ll take the anecdotes, thank you very much.

I currently work in a dental office and am the second from my family in a dentition-related career. I have been following your blog for several weeks now, and I am fully on board with a lot of the ideas you espouse. I, too, have always heard that once a tooth has moved past the pre-carious lesion state, that there was no stopping the decay without intervention by a dentist. About 8 months ago we had a patient scheduled for a routine prophylaxis and filling (the cavity was diagnosed at his last visit — the patient put it off 6 months, with lots of tsk-tsks from us). He came up to the front desk after his cleaning, and I told him that the assistant would take him back shortly for his filling, but he said “no, I’m good, it went away by itself.” I just stared at him, laughed, and said, “what do you mean?” (I thought he was joking), and the doctor confirmed that the tooth was healthy and there was no longer a need for a filling. I literally still did. not. get it. There was no further explanation, and it was just brushed off by the dentist as an anomaly that he didn’t care to explain, and that has stuck with me ever since. I have to admit I read your post with a lot of skepticism, but I couldn’t get past my own experience in our office. Something clearly happened, and I’m more open-minded now as to what it was because of this experience.

To Barbara, receding gums can be caused by bone loss (if you imagine your gums as a blanket draped over your gums, this makes sense), so make sure to floss daily in order to remove plaque between teeth (a buildup of plaque can lead to bone less because the anaerobic bacteria eats away at your bone). Also very important to note: healthy gums do not bleed when you floss. A lot of people don’t like flossing because it makes their gums bleed, but they fail to realize that flossing more is actually the answer to the problem. Brushing really hard can also abrade enamel and cause some gum recession. The periodontist at our office always says to brush gently, but THOROUGHLY.

Wow, I did not intend this response to become so long and meandering, but I am clearly in a sharing mood. Thanks for the work you do, Sarah!

Awesome Sarah. Just stay open minded and everything falls into place eventually. The answers sometimes come in their own time but at least when they do, you are ready for them and they don’t pass you by.

Clinical trials are funded by those who stand to gain a lot, as Lauren said above. And even if someone does a trial or study using the hallowed scientific method, if it points to a natural solution to a problem, their findings won’t get published in any of the usual places.

HOWEVER, there’s a sea change happening as more people seek answers they’re not getting from the conventional models.

Remember, DDT was once thought to be good for your skin, smoking was once touted as health-promoting, and countless discredited pharmaceuticals once promoted as safe and effective have left the marketplace. But, sadly, in many cases not until much bodily harm has been done and not until millions or billions have been raked in.

A couple of years ago I kept having a mysterious pain in one of my molars. My dentist inspected it and took xrays of it on two separate occasions, and finally concluded that he had no idea. After changing to a real food diet, one day it occurred to me that I had not been feeling that pain anymore. It occasionally comes back, and when it does it always correlates with a time that I’ve eaten too many unhealthy foods. I suppose that is in my head too, right?

I like this idea because I don’t always have time to read all the comments. Also, please post the boneheaded comments regularly. In an effort to reduce stress in my life, I try to avoid the conventional medical community as much as possible (to the extent of flipping over the front copy of Prevention magazine to avoid having to be irritated by its cover while on the rare trip to a supermarket register). Reading these help remind me about how boneheaded the boneheads are.

Also, I read the comments associated with the cavity post and was amazed at the animosity from the dentistry. I couldn’t believe that they passed around your post as a “joke” within their profession. Wow. I hope then ones who didn’t post were looking into who Weston Price was, but I’m not optimistic.

Yes, you do have to be thick skinned. (Hugs!) I could never do it and I admire you for that. I went and backed you up on most of their comments, but they probably won’t read them, sadly. We are making your Russian Custard with our chicken own chicken’s eggs and our bee’s honey for dessert tomorrow night!

Many (if not most?) of you readers know so very much you don’t even realize it. I am excited to spotlight that wisdom on a regular basis. Don’t know why I didn’t think of this before????? Such an obvious thing to do.

Unfortunately, anything considered a natural cure won’t get a chance to be put through a scientific trial by conventional medicine. Why? There’s no patent to be had nor billions to be raked in. I work in the health care industry next to brilliant physicians who are very skilled at treating symptoms but very inadequate in curing disease. The very idea that there is a different approach outside of the 10 years of training they’ve invested in causes extreme discomfort. They are very quick to label any one who thinks outs side the box as a “quack” or a “freak”. I often hear the statement “I guess they just have bad protoplasm” when referring to a patient with multiple chronic diseases with no obvious explanation. And everyone else nods in agreement! How scientific is that statement, doctor? It’s RUBBISH. The truth is they don’t have any answers. In fact, physicians that suggest that there’s an actual explanation to this “bad protoplasm” are poo-pooed by their peers. The real sheep here are those who take everything the FDA, CDC and the MD tells them at face value. I am not the minority amongst my peers, I cant find a like minded individual. I am also in the minority that doesn’t take medication or have children with tubes in their ears, home every other week on antibiotics or on behavior medications. Anecdotal? By definition, yes, but you cant refute the proof that’s in the pudding, doctor.

Hi Sarah,
What a great idea to feature comments. And kudos to you for your response to the “doctor” and the “scientific method.” How many studies show one thing and the next month show just the opposite? Sometimes common sense and experience is the best method. They used to say chiropractic is vodo (and some still do) while in my practice I know when patients get better from the treatment because THEY TELL ME. Duh. People know when a treatment works and they know it without multiclinic double blind studies (funded by big pharma).

Great idea Sarah! On the dentist one and cavities. We have been with our dentist now for over 30 years, we are about the same age so started with him when he first began his practice. He’s evolved, than goodness, from mercury fillings to not doing them at all. He uses a type of x-ray that is less invasive, not sure what he called it, and doesn’t x-ray unless he suspects something. Recently my 22 year old son was told that he had tiny holes, the beginning of cavities and if he took great care, they did give him a paste to use with flouride, so not too sure about this, he could actually reverse the decay and not need fillings. Our dentist does keep up on all of the latest in his field and does not give out sweets or coupons for sweets as rewards to kids.

I agree with Andrea and I love they way she brought it! It is so true how people look to the “clinical tests”, as well as the medical profession like they are gods. I for one, when butting heads with pediatricians back in 1983 & 1984 (when my boys were born) lost my awe for them. I had been reading books like “A Shot in the Dark” on vaccinations and when I tried to talk to the pediatrician (and his colleagues) they admitted that they don’t get much education in most fields (unless they are a specialist) AND that they are (and I quote) “only educated guessers!” Yes, he said that! Well, I can educate myself and then weigh the facts. If I’m going to be biased, then I want it to be according to how I think, feel and want to live, not how someone else THINKS I should live based on their limited time/care for that subject.

Anyway, I also wanted to mention that I’m reading a book right now called “Cure Tooth Decay: Heal & Prevent Cavities with Nutrition,” by Ramiel Nagel and a foreword by Timothy Gallagher, DDS (President of Holistic Dental Assoc., and lots of other credentials). They TOTALLY believe that the body will heal itself with the proper nutrition. And, I for one, even in the last few months after starting to eat more butter (Kerry Gold, or raw homemade butter when I can afford it) AND Green Pasture’s Blue Ice Royal Butter Oil/Fermented Cod Liver Oil AND I’ve been cutting out sugar and grains, my teeth sensitivity has gone away; I had 3 cracked molars and they no longer are causing any pain!

One more thing (besides saying your hubby had a great idea) – just making an observation: Have you noticed that “conventional” means they put all this time, effort, pesticides and unhealthy way of growing (whatever it is) and then they charge LESS, but to grow organically (which is the NATURAL way and how it’s been done since time began) which should cost less, BUT actually costs MORE! Now someone can go on and on about how the farmer might have to do more things to keep his plants healthy, but what about grass fed beef, for example?!!! If the cattle are out in the fields eating grass (there is no feed/cost) then the rancher slaughters them. With the “conventional” way, they allow them to eat grass, then send them off to feed lots to force them to eat GMO corn to fatten them up (which is actually killing the cattle, and they have to slaughter within so many weeks before the animals die! – see King Corn video) which has to cost a lot of money to have the animals shipped to a different location, fed something that costs money…. I’m sorry, but this seems ludicrous to me – and then they charge less?!??!!

Although I’ve always been a bit alternative, when it came to my teeth, I didn’t really know what to do. I ended up with 5 root canals. I wish I knew differently and had heard more of the “anecdotes”! Now, there’s really not much I can do except focus on being healthy. I’ve found a better dentist who doesn’t believe in root canals, and does other things to help teeth (I’m not sure what). But still, my root canals scare me and I try not to think about them. If only….Dentistry really is in the middle ages if you think about it!

Five root canals, ouch! You might want to seek information from Dental Amalgam Mercury Solutions for info on the dangers of mercury and other dental materials, and how to address these issues if you’re having symptoms.

It is totally a human rights issue, no doubt about that. The Food Revolution needs to be brought to the forefront and it is only us, as consumers, that can make it happen!!! We need to be loud, we need to be proud It’s so difficult though, to break through the corporations and their billions of dollars. It’s a sad thing that we have to fight for healthy, raw, proper food. We are not the sheep!!! Sheep toe the line and don’t question their leader. We are constantly questioning and researching and looking for the truth, trying to build a better, healthier future for our children.

An interesting person to check out is Ron Paul. He’s running for the presidency on issues such as human rights, freedom and less government along with less government involvement. He wants to get back to the constitution and what it stands for, which is far from where things are today. In Canada it’s not much different. I believe we have even more government ‘nanny state’ style legislature than the US and it’s so wrong. I wish I was in the US so I could vote for him next year!! The goverment has no business in our homes and most definitely not in our fridge!
Keep up the awesome work, Sarah. Yours is the one blog I go to daily and look forward to what you’re going to talk about next. My friend and I aways ask each other “Hey, did you check out the Healthy Home Economist website today?”

This is a great idea. I particularly like your answer to that dentist who claimed anecdotal evidence is worthless. All human civilization is based on anecdotal evidence, which is nothing less than our actual experience. Besides, the evemt you witnessed was completely consistent with the findings of Dr, Price.

EXACTLY Stanley! It’s not like I made this stuff up. I just followed what Dr. Price already found many years ago doing exactly what he advised and poof! same results. No big surprise except to folks who are locked into conventional thinking.

I love this new idea, Sarah! Kudos to the hubby! As far as those silly dentists, I would like yo point out something that has annoyed me for years. People accuse the poor folks of the dark ages of worshiping their medicine men, healers, and priests blindly – like sheep. However, nowadays, if anything says “clinically proven” (please, someone tell me where this all knowing, omnipotent clinic is!) and is held up on screen by an actor in a lab coat, everyone bows down and says, “It must be good. It must work!” Why is a clinic hundreds of miles way better than my friend’s home? Why is a stranger decked out in a white coat more knowledgeable than my neighbor? We TODAY are the boobies who believe anything with no real proof.

Great comment, Andrea. I’ve always been fascinated with how much clout “actors in lab coats” have with my extended family. My husband and I are the only ones who are a normal weight, have no ailments, and have never needed a prescription drug, so you’d think they would be falling over themselves to find out what we do.

We are pretty healthy too, but no one wants to REALLY know what we do, In fact, my sister asked me if there is anything I don’t worry about because in her mind I worry about everything! I told her that I just like to be aware.

I lost about 50 pounds on a Candida diet. When I tell people that I eat meat (chicken, fish, beef, etc.) veges, a little fruit and a lot of butter, they immediately start talking about calories which had absolutely nothing to do with my diet. My diet worked on healing my gut, but people don’t want to hear that.

I’ve been trying to convince some people on a pregnancy forum that they can reduce their chance of testing positive for GBS bacteria by eating a real food diet with probiotics. Pretty much I’ve been called a baby-killer for “not taking GBS infection seriously”. And, “everyone KNOWS that there is no other treatment for GBS other than antibiotics!!”

Seriously. I said does anyone really need a study to prove that a diet like the one people ate for thousands of years might be good for your immune system and reduce chance of infection? Sign. They are in the BOX.